Overhead traveling crane.



.No. 794.200. PATENTED JULY 11, 1905. G. L. TAYLOR.

OVERHEAD TRAVELING CRANE.

AEPLIOATIOH nn'nn AUG. 21. 1904.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATEN TED JULY 11, 1905.

C. L. TAYLOR.

OVERHEAD TRAVELING CRANE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27' 1904.

3 SHEETS-$HBET 2.

[NVE/VTOR C of. Attornzy WITNESSES No. 794.200. PATENTED JULY 11, 1905.

0. L. TAYLOR.

OVERHEAD TRAVELING CRANE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 27. 1904.

I 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

INVENTOR NITED STATES Patented July 11, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE L. TAYLOR, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MORGAN ENGINEERING COMPANY, OF ALLIANCE, OHIO.

OVERHEAD TRAVELING CRANE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 794,200, dated July 11, 1905.

Application filed August 27, 1904:. $c1ial No. 222,405.

To all 1077 0172 it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE L. TAYLOR, of Alliance, in the county of Stark and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Overhead Traveling Cranes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in overhead traveling cranes designed particularly for transferring skelp, the object being to provide a crane with a plurality of con nected and simultaneously-movable liftingbars, each bar carrying a stirrup at its lower end, so as to engage the skelp at several points, and thus prevent distortion due to sagging, which would occur were the plate or skelp supported at one point only, the stirrups being offset, so as to bring the weight approximately under the racks.

With this and other ends in view my invention consists in the parts and combination of parts, as will be more fully explained, and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a crane embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is an end view of same. Fig. 3 is a plan, and Fig. 4 is a view in section through one of its lifting-bars and its guide.

1 represents the bridge-girders, secured to the end trucks 2, mounted on the trackwheels 3, which latter travel on the rails 4 of an overhead trackway, being propelled thereon in the usual and well-known manner by the motor 5, shaft 6, and gearing 7 and 8, the latter being keyed to the axles of two of the flanged track-wheels 3.

Depending from the bridge-girders 1 are two skeleton frames 9. These frames converge downwardly and are secured at their lower ends to the flanged beams 10, which carry and support the vertical sleeves or guides 11, the latter being braced near their upper ends by the flanged bars 12, secured at their ends to the end pieces of the two frames 9. The vertical sleeves or guides are thus located in vertical planes midway the bridge-girders 1, and each carries and sup ports a vertically-movable rack-bar 13, the two bars 13 thus mounted being rigidly coupled together at a point below the beams by the tie-beam 14.

15 represents stirrups each comprising an L-shaped rod secured at its upper end to a horizontally-projecting bracket 16, secured to the tie-beam 14, or, if preferred, directly to the lower end of each bar 13. By thus securing the L-shaped stirrup to a bracket projecting horizontally from the tie-beam or bar to which the tie-beams are secured the stirrup is offset from the bar, thus bringing the center of the load or pull under the centers of the rack-bars. The lower member of each stirrup is slightly inclined upwardly toward its free end, so as to prevent the possibility of a skelp or plate thereon from accidentally sliding off, and both bars 13 are actuated in unison by a shaft 17, carrying pinions 18, which mesh with the teeth of the bars 13, an opening being provided in each sleeve or guide 11 to permit of the engagement of the pinion and rack at a point intermediate the ends of the sleeve or guide.

The shaft 17 is mounted inbearings 19, carried by the sleeve or guides, and is actuated by a motor 20 and suitable gearing leading from the motor to the shaft. This motor and the gearing, with the exception of the pinion on shaft 17, are located on the platform 21, supported by and between skeleton frames 9 above the shaft 17, the motor and all the gearing for actuating the rack-bars being below the bridge.

By locating the motor and rack-actuating gearing on a support below the bridge-girders and having the gearing engage the rackbars at a point below the motors I reduce the height of the crane, and thus provide for greater clearance between the top of this crane and the roof-c0rd or under side of a crane above.

While it may not be necessary, I prefer to connect the bridge-girders at points intermediate the end carriages 2 and the frames 9 by the braces 22.

In the operation of the apparatus the bars 13 should be lowered to bring the horizontal members of the stirrups 15 to a plane below the skelp or plate, after which the bridge should be moved in a direction to carry the stirrups under the skelp. The rackbars should then be elevated, thus elevating the skelp from the machine or support on which it rested, and then by moving the bridge the skelp can be transported to any part of the mill or shop and safely deposited. With this apparatus the skelp will be supported throughout its entire movement at two widely-separated points, thus preventing it frombocoming bent or distorted in shape, as would occur if supported at a single point.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I would have it understood that I do not wish to restrict myself to the exact construction shown and described; but,

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is

1. The combination with a traveling bridge and a frame depending therefrom, of a plurality of bars mounted in said frame, a tie-beam connecting said bars, means for moving them vertically in unison, and a plurality of stirrups carried by said bars.

2. The combination with a traveling bridge, and a frame depending therefrom of a plurality of sleeves or guides carried by said frame, a rack-bar for each sleeve or guide, a tie-bar connecting the rack-bars, a motor and gearing for moving the rack-bars vertically in unison, and a plurality of stirrups movable with the rack-bars.

3. The combination with a traveling bridge, of a plurality of vertically-movable bars on the bridge, means for moving the bars in unison, and a plurality of offset stirrups movable with said bars.

4. The combination with a traveling bridge, and a frame depending therefrom, of a plurality of vertically-movable bars mounted in said frame, means for moving the bars in unison and an offset L-shaped stirrup for each rack-bar. I

5. The combination with a traveling bridge and a frame depending therefrom, of vertical sleeves or guides carried by said frame, a rack-bar mounted in each sleeve or guide, a stirrup for each rack-bar, a pinion engaging each rack-bar at a oint intermediate the ends of the guide or s eeve and below the bridge, and a motor and gearing for actuating the several pinions.

6. The combination with a traveling bridge, and a frame depending therefrom, of vertical sleeves or guides carried by said frame, a rack-bar in each sleeve or guide, an offset stirrup for each rack-bar, a motor carried by said depending frame and gearing connecting said motor and rack-bar, the motor and gearing being located below the top plane of the bridge-girders.

7. The combination with a traveling bridge, of a frame depending therefrom, a plurality of vertical sleeves or guides carried by said frame, a rack-bar in each sleeve or guide, means for moving the rack-bars, a bracket projecting horizontally from the lower end of each raclcbar, and an L-shaped stirrup secured to the outer end of each bracket.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CLARENCE L. TAYLOR.

Witnesses:

N. C. FETTERS, E. E. BROSIUS. 

